1. Field
The following description relates to an optical transmission technology, and more particularly, to an optical waveguide and a bi-directional optical transceiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional bi-directional optical transceiver, which achieves bi-directional optical communication using a single optical waveguide, for example one single optical fiber. The conventional bi-directional optical transceiver separates optical signals travelling in opposite directions from each other by use of a free space optical system including an optical waveguide 10, a light output unit 30, a light detection unit 40 and an external filter 20 installed among the optical waveguide 10, the light output unit 30 and the light detection unit 40, thereby achieving bidirectional optical communication. However, according to the above structure, the performance of the optical transceiver is highly dependant on the position of components of the optical transceiver.
In particular, the optical system needs to be manually aligned such that transmission signals output from the light output unit 30 pass through a core 11 having a very small diameter. However, the use of the external filter causes a difficulty in aligning the optical system and as a consequence makes it difficult to realize a compact sized bi-directional optical transceiver.
In this regard, a study has been pursued to provide an optical waveguide and an optical transceiver, capable of achieving smaller size and superior transmit/reception performance of light through easier manual alignment of optical system.